Old Lady Bai stretched out her arm and took the jade ornament from Mrs. Liu’s hand: “Your dowry? Your Liu Family was so poor to the point that you can’t even eat rice, but you were saying this is your dowry? Who are you trying to fool?”
Mrs. Liu was very dissatisfied, so she opened her mouth and debated: “My Liu Family is poor, but were are not stingy people. This jade ornament was passed down by our ancestor. So, what so strange if I said it’s my dowry?”
Old Lady Bai coldly sneered and said: “That would be very strange. Your brother is too poor, that’s why even at the age of 30, he can’t find a wife to marry. So tell me, will your parents rather give this valuable thing to you than to your brother and let him stay a bachelor? If you wanted to convince people, make your words believable.”
Mrs. Liu’s face reddens: “This valuable thing can only be passed down to women. That’s why it was with me. What is wrong with that?”
Old Lady Bai stared at Mrs. Liu and immediately yelled at Bai Dazhu: “Dazhu, come over here.”
Bai Dazhu was originally sitting in the backyard, so when he heard his mother words, he rushed over: “Niang, are you looking for me?”
Old Lady Bai asked: “When your wife married in the family, aside from a rugged quilt, did she brought something else as a dowry?”
Bai Dazhu immediately shook his head: “No, except for a rugged quilt, there was nothing else. Oh! There were clothes, but those were her niang’s old clothes.”
Old Lady Bai turned her head and looked at Mrs. Liu: “Did you hear that?”
Mrs. Liu still wants to argue, but Old Lady Bai impatiently waved her hand: “Shut up, don’t think that I don’t know what kind of people your Liu Family is. Before you were born, three children of your family died from hunger. If there is this valuable thing will they die? And will your parents let you marry in our Bai Family?”
Mrs. Liu knew that it was useless to say anything again. But, she glared at her husband and son. She really regretted it. If she picks up that thing first, the old lady wouldn’t be able to take it away.
Old Lady Bai knew that this jade ornament was a very valuable thing. After looking at it carefully, she hides it in her sleeve and said to Bai Dabao: “Dabao, where did you find this thing? Is there something else?”
Bai Dabao pointed his finger to the two broken frame, then said: “It seems it fallen from the frame. There is nothing else.”
Old Lady Bai picked up the broken frame and carefully examined it again and again. In there, she found a small slit that seemed have been cut for a long time. If no accident happened and the frame didn’t split into two, no one will notice it.
Bai Dabao asked: “Grandmother, how can there me a jade ornament in this frame?”
Old Lady Bai shook her head: “I don’t know. This frame was bought in a store from the town 10 years ago. It was a second-hand good. Maybe the first owner hid it inside, but who cares? This thing is now in our Bai Family, so this jade ornament is ours.”
Bai Dabao pulled the old lady’s arm: “Grandmother, this thing is expensive, right? We might get more money in this than selling Bai Zhi.” Because they failed to sell Bai Zhi, he also faces a dilemma in his marriage. But now that they have such a treasure, he can even look for a wife up to the next village.
Old Lady Bai took the jade ornament in her sleeve. She looked at the front and back side. She knew that this was a very valuable thing, but she doesn’t know how much it cost, so she said: “Such a very valuable thing, how can we sell it? We can use it as family’s heirloom. If people cheated us with the price, won’t we lose much more?”